NO-FI "MAGAZINE"
interview with


Interview by Chris Beyond!
Conducted at Aron's Records,
Hollywood, November 22, 1996

There we were at Aron's Records in Hollywood. Friday November 22nd and Holly, Quin, Ron, Ernie and I were feeling fine. One of our favorite all time groups was about to play...of course I wanted more. I mean, c'mon...we want to know what goes through these guy's heads right? Anyway, I spoke to their manager and he basically told me where I could go with my interview so I decided to to talk to the band directly (managers and agents hate it when you do that). Success! I spy a couple members looking at records before the show! Here goes something...

C = Chris Beyond (Sneaky Interviewer)
B = Brian Doherty (Drummer)
G = Graham (Bass Player)
N = Nipper (Special Guest Star and a Member of THE NEGRO PROBLEM)

C: This is the NO-FI Interview with a couple members of THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS. Can you both state your name into my recorder so I know who is saying what when I'm typing. (Hey! I'm typing now! WOW!)
B: Yeah, this is Brian Doherty...I'm the drummer.
G: My name is Graham and I'm the bass player.
C: Cool, you're on the new album, right?
B: The last TWO albums.
C: Tell us about the new album.
B: Uh, it's short and, uh, we recorded about 22 songs for the new record and they chose about 12, yeah, so we lopped off about 10. We're saving those for another record to come out in about a year. So there are 12 songs on the record...it's varied and so far it's my favorite THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS record.
G: Yeah, there's an interesting song on the album alled "We Can Hear You" that we recorded at the Edison laboatory; a museum in West Orange New Jersey...it's where they have the original Thomas Edison wax recording equipment and they occasionally have people come in and do recordings on it and we were lucky enough to do it.We did maybe a half a dozen tracks and there's this track on there that we recorded that day. It廣 as low-fi as it gets.
B: It actually sounds as if we were recording in 1925 or something. It sounds like a cylinder recording.
C: Ok, Influences...local or big.
B: You mean my personal influences? I like THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS.
(Nipper from THE NEGRO PROBLEM happens by to join in.)
N: I met you guys before when I interviewed THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS for FLIPSIDE magazine.
B: Influences, uh, I have a wide range of influences...I kinda go through phases and what I listen to a lot lately is a lot of NRBQ and I really like BECK a lot.
C: Nipper and I were just talking about BECK the other night. We廝e gonna get the inside scoop from her. Tell us about BECK.
N: BECK?
C: Yep.
N: Um, I feel guilty cuz, um, when I was in FIEND with his Steve Maramarco, (Currently in THE ABE LINCOLN STORY) I was really mean to him. He used to come with us and open for us on our out of town shows. He was really broke and he never pitched in for gas. I would always go, "Hey you know, why do you always have to bring BECK to all these gigs? He just takes up room in the van and he never brings money." Whenever I tried to talk to him, he looked stunned and never had anything to say. Steve wrote a song called "I'm Not At Your Beckin Call"and said it was about Beck since Beck was like his wife. I used to call Steve Mrs. Beck. We used to say he was Hen-Becked. Now he never talks to him...
C: He's a big rock star now. Steve is cool. Gotta plug his band. (plug plug plug)
G: Here I am with a BEATLES cd in my hand, so I guess THE BEATLES. One of the reasons I got started at all. Anything like XTC and shit like that.
C: You should go on tour with XTC.
N: You can go on tour as XTC and wear XTC masks and make a lot of money!
(The interview breaks into temporary chaos!)
C: Have you ever held a monkey?
B: Uh, I've never held a monkey.
C: (To Graham) How `bout you?
G: I have two children, does that count?
C: That counts.
G: No, I've never held one.
B: He廣 never even held his kids.
C: Of the entire band, who looks the best?
B: Uh, I'd say, uh,...I say Eric...he's our new guitarist. He's definitly not the youngest in the band, but he looks the best. What do you think?
G: Nah, I think you are the best, Brian.
C: Awwwww. See, I try to start a fight and all I get is love. What is your favorite Adam Ant song and why?
B: You know what, I don廠 know a lot of Adam Ant songs so, uh, what were some of his songs? I guess "Ant Music" is my favorite. John Flansburgh has always introduced the song by saying that it廣 actually true that XTC and Adam Ant had a runoff at a radio station during an interview or something. Is that true?
(By the way there is a song on their new album called "XTC VS. ADAM ANT.")
G: I've never heard that story before John Flansburgh told it. So I don't know if that廣 a rumor or what.
B: I don't even like Adam Ant.
C: Oooooh, my girlfriend will not be happy. Ok, then next question...ok...
B: Let's answer this one first. (HEY!!! He's reading my list o' questions before I do!!!) What's my favorite Morrissey song..."Hairdresser On Fire"...I really like that...actually I really like ALL Morrissey songs, but I think I like that one the best.
G: I would love to hear a SMITHS album with Morrissey's vocals erased.
C: Wow.
B: You mean totally just instrumental?
(Brian laughs. I relate some boring story.)
C: So I guess you guys aren't going to be on that new SMITHS IS DEAD compilation that's out.
G: I just can't stand Morrissey really, If I have to spell it out.
B: I'd rather be on a Morrissey record than an Adam Ant record.
G: No, see, I寮 rather be on an Adam Ant record than on Morrissey's.
(Oh oh, I think a fight is brewing!)
C: There's the fight! I started a fight! That's cool. Ok, the favorite childhood toy question. What was your's?
B: Uh, Tonka toys, yeah, they were great man. They'd knock down blocks and everything and you could...
C: knock down other kids toys.
B: Other kids toys too, right and basically just like rocks...you could dig up rocks and throw them through other people廣 windows...that was always a great childhood toy.
C: Wow, how about you?
G: My willy, yeah. I can廠 think of a better answer than that.
C: Oh, yeah well how about...just kidding. next question. If a plane were flying above us at 300 feet and another smaller plane was flying 150 feet below that, who do you think the coolest girl on The facts Of Life was and why?
B: Uh, I don't watch The Facts Of Life...is that a TV show?
C: It was a really bad show were all the girls became really overweight and the theme song was like "You take the good...you take the bad...you take them BOTH...and now there YOU have...the facts of life."
B: Uh huh...well culturally I'd have to say...
G: The correct answer is obviously six and a half ounces.
C: There you go. See, HE get's the idea. See you don't get it...you're out of it. If you two were on Three's Company, out of all the cast of Three廣 Company, who would you like to room with?
B: Six and a half ounces. yeah. That廣 a rough question. I don't think I寮 wanna room with any of them.
C: It's probably a good thing you don't watch as much TV as I do.
B: Actually I watch more CNN. I find C-Span amazing. You can just like watch some meeting or some commitee hearing for hour and hours and hours on end. I watched one yesterday and they were talking about putting more pennies in circulation. This meeting went on for like 3 hours!
C: Ok, who's you favorite celebrity?
B: Uh, that would have to be David Hasselhoff.
G: Issabella Rosalini.
C: Ahhhhhh yes. I understand that.
B: See that's the difference between me and Graham.
C: You go for the David hasselhoff thing, wanting to get into his Knight Rider car...Graham watches a lot of David Lynch...he sits at home alone drinking Kool-Aide. What's your favorite high school memory?
B: (rasberry sound here) Uh, let Graham answer that first while I'm thinking of it.
G: I have to say my favorite memory is getting sent to the headmaster the day before I left. It took me seven years to achieve the final disgrace of being sent to the headmaster. I guess you had to be there.
B: Uh, I don't remember high school. That's the problem, I just don't remember...it's completly blank.



("Brrrr...wzzzz...chzzztztzct")


(The tape ran out on my recorder and I didn't realize it. At least I got most of the interview. This is all I remember which happened right as they were going on to perform. Their manager saw me finishing up and...)

TMBG MANAGER: Don't bother the Johns!


(Thanks for the interview guys! TheEndEndEndEnd)





Chris Beyond